"Unfortunately, there seems to be far more opportunity out there than ability….We should remember that good fortune often happens when opportunity meets with preparation." Thomas A Edison

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Round 2, Tuesdays

I usually get paired with Expert Paul A. in 2nd rounds, but this time the turnout was lower, and I got another Expert instead (a newly minted Expert). I figured if I got paired with Paul, I could at least try to draw him since that would be a first for me, believe it or not. I wanted to make up for last weekend in this game, thinking no one is going to believe me that I brought my “B game” to that weekend tournament, and why should anyone care anyway? No one looks through a database and sorts through which players had a cold during their games, for example.

This game was fun to play, and we both got down to under a minute, finishing hours after the other games where the top players won quickly. Unfortunately, when I play in the tournament in Manitou Springs this coming weekend, the first two of five rounds will be G/90, d/5, boo! I was lucky, yet happy to get a win after putting my body through the abuse the past week. It’s tough to be able to play in a day tournament, at that time, and also in a night tournament in the same week. Generally, you are probably either more of a morning person or a night person. Some, such as Mark, play well sleepy-eyed.

It was poor form of me not to have had the guts, in time-pressure, to push e5 on various moves, which was my plan all along. Still, it was nice to show that I could find another way to win, even if he had an easy draw close to the end by putting his king on h8 before dropping his pawn. I figured it was one of those mistakes on his part, in time-pressure, to try and defend his pawn, although after the game Paul showed that he could have defended it with his knight as well. When I see a technical Expert, like Paul, find a draw relatively effortlessly, it casts an impression on the importance of technical play – from either side of the position.

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2 thoughts on “Round 2, Tuesdays”

I don’t think his pawn sacrifice in the opening was sound.
Yes, e5 was very good for you on move 41 or 49.
His 76… Nf6 as natural as it looks was a crucial mistake.
You had an edge all the game and deserved the win.

Yeah, I know it’s tough to watch me not know what to do with the Bb5, and not pushing e5 ever, both are kinda cringeworthy, but I kept him contained long enough to still have a chance. 😀 Next time, I’ll realize that I need to be more active to bring home the point against an Expert. 😉 I was kinda lucky because I didn’t calculate enough in the middlegame. I thought he might turn it into a Benko, but I was just as much looking forward to playing Bf4 and grinding him positionally that way. My Bd2 was okay, but Houdini thought even there I could play Bg5 or Bf4, and don’t need to hunker down so much.